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Evelyn O'Connell
Evelyn O'Connell (née Carnahan) was born in London, England to Howard Carnahan. At a young age, Evelyn acquired an interest in Egypt and its history, namely its artifacts. Commencing her career as a librarian, Evelyn ventured on an expedition to the ancient City of the Dead, Hamunaptra, where, along with others, she encountered an ancient cursed mummy known as Imhotep, which she helped to defeat. This act brought various adventures in the years to come as Evelyn, along with her husband Rick O'Connell, their son Alex O'Connell, and, from time to time, Evelyn's brother Jonathan Carnahan, encountered many ancient powers and forces, some evil, others benign, and having several run-ins with Imhotep himself. In the years after, Evelyn documented her travels in the form of adventure novels. Biography Evelyn Carnahan was, at first, a librarian that would go on to have many adventures in stopping an ancient evil from resurfacing onto the Earth. Early Life Evelyn Carnahan was born in London, England, her father being a famed explorer that loved Egypt so much that he married an Egyptian woman who became the mother of Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan. Evelyn's interest in Egypt and its ancient history commenced when she learned, in her youth, of the Book of Amun-Ra, the finding of which she marked as a sort of a life's pursuit. Librarian In her earlier days, Evelyn and her brother received a stipend of several hundred pounds due to her parents' death, which Evelyn spent according to her need, while Jonathan wasted the vast majority on liquor. Evelyn, despite being experienced in Egyptology, was denied an application by the Bembridge scholars in England at first, as they had insisted that she lacked experience. Having an employment in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities, Evelyn worked as the museum's librarian, sorting out books and records for the Museum's collection. One day, while filing out books in the "S" section of the library, she came across a mis-shelved book on Tuthmosis, and attempted to shelve the book under the right category by leaning over on the ladder that she was using. The ladder had ended up acting like a pair of stilts which left Evelyn to stand upright ten feet in the air. Falling forward, Evelyn knocked down the bookshelf that she was working on, which knocked over the next bookshelf, on and on until the books were all askew and the shelves on the floor. Dr. Terence Bey, Evelyn's employer, came in furious at the damages done, asking ruefully why he had hired Evelyn to begin with. Evelyn defended herself by citing her qualities of reading hieroglyphs and being able to catalog items properly, but Dr. Bey stated that because her deceased parents were the library's finest patrons, leaving Evelyn to straighten out the books, regardless of time or effort. At that moment, Evelyn heard a sound coming from a display area where mummies and sarcophagi were kept. Taking a torch into the room, Evelyn peered into one sarcophagus, which saw a rotted mummy pop out shrieking at her: the mummy was simply controlled by her brother Jonathan, who stopped by to see her. Demanding that he leave, as he would likely ruin her career the way that his had been ruined, Evelyn denied that Jonathan was succeeding in finding artifacts, Jonathan being an archaeologist as well. Evelyn was cross also due to the rejection of her application to work with the scholars of Bembridge, who attested that she had little experience in the field. Jonathan tried to cheer her up by reminding her that she always had him, and Jonathan brought a trinket along that Evelyn at first derided as worthless, as most of his findings were forgeries, but which turned out to be a real find: a small, golden puzzle-box with eight keyed ends. Pressing the box's bottom in silent amazement, Evelyn beheld an ancient map that was folded up within the box. Taking the box to the curator for further studying, Evelyn showed Dr. Bey the map, stating that if her research was correct, that the map led to the lost City of the Dead, Hamunaptra. Dr. Bey derided the notion while he examined the map, only to mistakenly expose the map to a lit candle on his desk. The map was put out by Evelyn and Jonathan, but the section with the lost city was burned off, Dr. Bey replying that it was for the best, as others had gone seeking the ruins of Hamunaptra, with none ever finding it. Dr. Bey then stated that the box might fetch up a small sum, but Evelyn would have none of it and, taking the map and Jonathan, headed out the door. In Cairo Prison Evelyn had learned that brother had obtained the puzzle box not on a dig in Thebes, as he had claimed, but from the pocket of a drunk at a seedy bar known as the Sultan's Casbah. The drunk in question was subsequently arrested and placed in Cairo Prison, where Evelyn and Jonathan had gone to find him, led by the warden, Gad Hassan. Stopping at one cell, Hassan stated, when asked about the man's crime, that he did not know what the charges were, but that the prisoner was "just looking for a good time". Bringing the prisoner forward, the guards revealed an American man named Richard O'Connell, a former Corporal in the French Foreign Legion, who revealed to Evelyn that the box that he had found, and been relieved of, was found at Hamunaptra; Jonathan suggested that O'Connell was lying, at which point the American recognised Jonathan as the man who stole his box, and in response, punched Jonathan in the face. Evelyn then asked if O'Connell was actually at Hamunaptra and asked him if he could tell her how to get there; O'Connell signalled Evelyn to come closer so that he might whisper it to her, kissing her full on the lips and telling her to get him out of prison. With that, O'Connell was beaten by the guards and taken away; Evelyn asked the Warden where it was that the American was being taken, the answer was that he was being taken to be hanged. Soon after, Jonathan pointed out that the Foreign Legion had no jurisdiction in Egypt, and so could not have the man hung; the Warden replied to the Carnahans that for a cut of the profits made from the Legion, the prison relieved them of the duty of extradition. At the time of O'Connell's hanging, Evelyn attempted to bribe the Warden with various amounts of money, none of which appealed to the Warden as he ordered O'Connell hung. Finally, Evelyn revealed that O'Connell knew the location of Hamunaptra. The Warden was disbelieving at first, but soon after agree to spare O'Connell's life on the condition that the Warden receive twenty-five percent. Evelyn agreed, and O'Connell's life was spared. At Giza Port Evelyn and Jonathan met at Giza Port wondering if O'Connell would show up to take them on their journey. As Evelyn spoke on about how unreliable he seemed, O'Connell turned up, shaven, trimmed, and in clean clothes. In awe, Evelyn stood taking in the sight of O'Connell's new appearance before regaining her cool composure and asking if the search that they were about to conduct for Hamunaptra was not some money making scheme devised, to which O'Connell replied the truth: his garrison believed in Hamunaptra so much that they, without orders, marched across Libya to find the ruins, finding only death. With that, O'Connell tersely walked aboard, taking the Carnahans' bags for them, and leaving Evelyn to stare on, fixated at his looks. At that moment, the Warden of Cairo Prison walked up to Evelyn, who was dismayed to see the Warden, who declared that he was going along with them so as to protect his investment. Aboard the Sudan That night, Evelyn and the three others in her group sat at a dinner table aboard the riverboat Sudan with other passengers, saying nothing of their mission to the others at the table. Later on in the evening, Evelyn sat down at a table reading a novel by candlelight when O'Connell found her and spoke with her about her true intent behind going to Hamunaptra, which Evelyn revealed: she intended to find the fabled Book of Amun-Ra, the ancient golden book that contained the texts and archaic incantations of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, the idea that sparked her interest in Egypt as a child, her life's pursuit being to find the book and prove its existence. O'Connell then asked if the book being crafted from pure gold made any difference to her, the question which Evelyn was impressed to hear, demonstrating that O'Connell knew his history. Changing the subject, Evelyn wished to know why O'Connell had kissed her back at the prison, to which O'Connell replied that he was about to be hanged and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Evelyn, cross at having heard this, stormed off angrily, but stood by, petting some camels that were in the stables onboard the riverboat. That night, as Evelyn brushed her hair and tried to read a book, her mind still wandered to O'Connell kissing her, and, trying to convince herself to forget about it, she continued to brush her hair, dropping her book. When Evelyn picked it up and looked into the mirror, she saw a scarred man in dark robes that had a hook-shaped blade where his right hand was standing behind her; the man held her at the point of his blade and demanded to know where the map was. Evelyn, fearing for her life, pointed to the table behind him, where the map lay. The man then demanded to know where the "key" was, and Evelyn asked what key he was talking about, at which point O'Connell, guns drawn, burst into the room to face the assailant. The man in black took Evelyn behind his blade, threatening to kill her, when two other men dressed in black appeared from the portholes of the ship: O'Connell blasted those men away as Evelyn jammed a large candlestick into her assailant's eye. Evelyn ran out through the halls but stopped when she had remembered that she left the map, and ran to get it back: O'Connell took her away from the burning room, as he was the essential map to Hamunaptra. On deck, more men dressed in black began to fight against the boat's passengers, and O'Connell joined in the fight, blasting down as many of the black robe-swathed men as he could. Evelyn met O'Connell on deck and when asked if she could swim, Evelyn replied that she could if the occasion called for it, which served as O'Connell's cue to throw Evelyn overboard so that she might escape the burning boat. Journey to Hamunaptra Evelyn, along with the other passengers aboard the Sudan, made it to shore, complaining that they had lost everything from tools to equipment, and Evelyn's wardrobe as well, but she, Jonathan, O'Connell and the Warden made it to shore well enough, finding help the next morning when a caravan of Bedouin traders helped them after having seen the smoke coming from the river. Jonathan's money supply survived the swim and so he managed to buy some camels for the group, while Evelyn had gone into a tent where she purchased a dark blue Bedouin gown, complete with a veil. Evelyn's new outfit caused O'Connell to look on with even more interest than before and the four then continued their journey to Hamunaptra, Jonathan complaining about the camels all the while as Evelyn responded that she found them adorable. The travellers continued on until the evening, when they all stopped to camp out before rising in the early morning so that the sun would not come down on them. Evelyn, being cold in the desert night, huddled up with O'Connell as they slept, but returned to her own sleeping spot before her brother and the Warden saw and got the wrong impression. The journey continued the next morning with Jonathan and Warden Hassan arguing about who was snoring, their quarrel stopping once the group's camels walked past a section of sand where many human skulls and bones were, O'Connell knowing some of the deceased men there. The Warden revealed that the skeletons were those of other men that had tried to find Hamunaptra and failed. Further on, O'Connell's group had met up with Beni Gabor's group, which consisted of Beni (another former Legionnaire), three treasure-seeking Americans, their Egyptologist consultant, and a large number of native fellahin diggers. As both groups stood facing one another, one of the Americans, Henderson, reminded O'Connell of a wager that he had placed, entitling whichever group reached Hamunaptra first to five hundred dollars. O'Connell told Evelyn to get ready for the sunrise, for it would show the way to Hamunaptra: indeed, as the sun rose, it illuminated the ruins of the City of the Dead, causing all present to drive their mounts in a race to reach the ruins first. Evelyn drove her camel faster and faster on and reached the city before any others did, earning her group five hundred dollars. Tunnels Evelyn and her group had set up camp within the ruins, intending to enter the underground tunnels of the ruins by using a tunnel near a statue of the god Anubis, which was partially below ground, and was said by the scholars at Bembridge to be the location of the golden book of Amun-Ra. Evelyn had used several ancient mirrors around the entrance of the tunnels as part of a trick that she knew of, and was then given a small brown leather kit by O'Connell, who inarticulately revealed that it was a gift; Evelyn opened the kit and found several picks, brushes and assorted digging tools. The group then ventured underground by rappelling down the tunnels. Evelyn stated that they were standing inside a chamber that no one had entered in three thousand years as she turned one of the mirrors inside the chamber, illuminating the room with light from the sun. Identifying the chamber as a Sah-Netjer, Evelyn explained that the room was once used for preparations for the afterlife, where mummies were made. The group moved on through the corridors, stopping as they heard a loud chattering sound coming from the walls, a sound like insects; after the group had gone through the corridors further, they found the statue of Anubis, partly sunken into the ground with the top half on the surface, and were about to search for the compartment when they heard echoing voices coming from around the statue. O'Connell, Jonathan and Warden Hassan pulled out their guns, ready to face whatever was causing the voices, and found the three Americans, Egyptologist, Beni and a number of native diggers. The Americans were as frightened by the smaller group as the smaller group was afraid of the Americans, and had drawn out their guns, along with Beni. Burns, seeing Evelyn's toolkit, called out that it was his but retracted his claim once O'Connell pointed his pistol towards him. Evelyn tried to send the larger group away but could not, as both groups continued pointing pistols at one another. As the hostilities continued, Evelyn surreptitiously toed some pebbles into a crevice on the ground, seeing that another chamber was below them, and, with a calm, chipper tone, surrendered the statue base to the Americans. Evelyn, O'Connell and Jonathan moved to the lower chamber and began to pry at the ceiling, Evelyn telling that according to the hieroglyphs, they would come up between the statue's legs, Jonathan continuing the idea by remarking that they could steal the golden Book from under the statue while the Americans were not paying attention. Evelyn remained adamant that they could find the compartment, assuming that the Americans hadn't found it first. After some time had passed, the three took a short rest: Jonathan amused himself by hitting away at pebbles with a pickaxe as though they were golf balls, and Evelyn regaled O'Connell with the process of mummification. As they talked, Jonathan hit one pebble that jarred loose a large stone object from the ceiling, which came crashing to the floor: a sarcophagus that was buried at the base of Anubis, indicating that whoever was entombed was either someone of great importance or that he "did something very naughty", as Evelyn had put it. The sarcophagus was closely examined and was observed to have a lock on it of some kind, that appeared octagonal as the puzzle-box that Jonathan had did, which Evelyn herself had pocketed from him as she remarked that earlier the hooked warrior on the riverboat was searching for a key. Placing the key on its lock, Evelyn showed that the key pertained to it, the notion being interrupted when a scream ran out from the corridors: Warden Hassan had been clutching at his head, tearing at his scalp, and shoved Evelyn, Jonathan and O'Connell out of the way as he ran screaming into a stone wall, ending his life. That night, Evelyn examined the late Warden's body, noting that it had some form of bite on its foot, though his cause of death still remained unknown, as O'Connell pointed out that the three American treasure-seekers had deaths as well: three of their diggers were burned to death with salt acid that erupted from the statue base of Anubis. As O'Connell and Jonathan pondered the notion of Hamunaptra truly being cursed, Evelyn derided the notion entirely, stating that if she could see it and touch it, it was real. O'Connell responded, with a cock of his elephant gun, that he believed in being prepared, while Jonathan decided to look in the late Warden's bag, finding a broken bottle of 12-year old Glenlivet whiskey and sand, the apparent remnants of the items taken by the Warden. The sound of far-off hoofbeats came from the desert and O'Connell left the siblings to investigate as Evelyn tried to follow him; drinking from the bottle, Jonathan tried to chase after her. A band of Medjai warriors had come storming into the camp, tearing down tents, killing diggers and terrorising the expeditionaries. O'Connell, the three Americans and Jonathan had all fired back, as did Evelyn: Evelyn, still holding O'Connell's elephant gun, fired at one Medjai while he was on horseback. The attacks ceased once the Medjai leader, Ardeth Bay, gave the order for his fellow Medjai to cease their attacks, claiming that they would shed no more blood, but that the expeditionaries must all leave Hamunaptra or die. Giving them one day to leave, Ardeth and his fellow warriors rode out. O'Connell helped Evelyn up, showing true concern for her, and heard the American treasure-seekers insist that the treasures of Seti must be under the sands for the warriors to protect them so. O'Connell replied that the Medjai were desert people that would value water over gold, and would be less interested in keeping treasures for themselves. Burns suggested then that the groups could combine forces at night and simply be rivals instead of being enemies. That night, after O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan had all taken some of the late Warden's whiskey, O'Connell attempted to give Evelyn an impromptu boxing lesson, which was hindered by her drunkenness after having taken some whiskey. Shortly after, Evelyn drunkenly explained her motives for finding Hamunaptra: Egypt was in her blood, her father, being a famed explorer, had married an Egyptian woman and sired Evelyn and Jonathan. O'Connell responded that her story explained her parents and Jonathan but her motives still were not clear: Evelyn went on to stagger to her feet and proclaim that she was no treasure-seeker, explorer or other adventurer, but that she was proud of being a librarian. Evelyn then tried to kiss O'Connell but passed out due to the drink. A Mummy The next morning, despite a hangover, Evelyn, Jonathan and O'Connell were none worse for the wear, turning their attentions instead towards the opening of the sarcophagus that they had found. Evelyn expressed her joy at the opening of the sarcophagus, as she had hoped to open one since she was young. As the lid was being opened, Evelyn noted that the sacred spells had been chiselled off, condemning whoever was inside into the next life as well. The lid was pried open, causing a mummy to burst out, due to the pressure of the air inside its sarcophagus; the mummy was noticeably moist even after three thousand years and still decomposing. Evelyn examined the lid of the sarcophagus, where an inscription was made with fingernails by the condemned mummy when he was still alive: the message stated "Death is only the beginning". That night, Evelyn examined the coffin further, finding scarab exoskeletons inside, she was about to take them to her campsite and show them to her fellows when she looked in Dr. Chamberlain's tent and saw that he had the Book of the Dead, the Egyptologist tried to force it open with his bare hands until he saw that he could not, and Evelyn explained to Dr. Chamberlain that he would need a key to open the Book. Evelyn went on to her campsite and showed the scarabs to her fellows, explaining that the scarabs could stay alive for years, feeding on a corpse, though the scarabs that she had found were still alive when they started eating the condemned man. Evelyn explained that, according to her research, the mummy that had been found suffered the Hom-Dai, a curse reserved only for the worst blasphemers, never used by the Egyptians of the time because they feared its effects: those condemned with the Hom-Dai would bring back the Ten Plagues of Egypt, should they be resurrected. As Dr. Chamberlain slept that night in his tent, he held on to the Book of the Dead and a canopic jar; Evelyn, knowing that he had the Book of the Dead with him, snuck into his tent and took the obsidian book from him while he was asleep. Taking the book back to her own campsite, she sat in front of the fire with the book as O'Connell lay awake, pretending to be asleep: O'Connell pointed out that she was stealing the book, but Evelyn replied that according to O'Connell and Jonathan, it was borrowing. Wondering what it was, O'Connell was informed that the book was the Book of the Dead, not the Book of Amun-Ra, which he believed it was. Using the puzzle-box that Jonathan owned, Evelyn opened the Book's locked covers, releasing another gust of wind. Evelyn looked on the obsidian pages and saw hieroglyphs, which she began to read aloud so as to translate them to O'Connell, not knowing that as she spoke the words, the mummy that she, Jonathan and O'Connell had found below in the tunnels was coming to life, roaring loudly as it awoke. Dr. Chamberlain had also awoken, screaming out at Evelyn that she must not read from the Book. Just then, a droning sound began, coming from the horizon, awaking all the others in the campsite as they looked onto the distance outside the camp and saw a vast horde of locusts that swarmed onto the camp, covering up tents and those that could not run away fast enough, including Dr. Chamberlain, who stood in silent shock. Personality and Traits Evelyn was a British woman living in Cairo, hoping to reach the greatness that her father before her had in Egyptology, in 1925. Skittish at times, and confidant in some situations, Evelyn was relentless in her goals. A young, attractive woman with brown hair and blue eyes, Evelyn was said to have inherited her looks from her mother, but regardless of her looks, which turned heads often, she did not see herself as particularly unattractive or attractive, often wearing mannish outfits such as jodhpurs and oversized cardigans; ten years afterward, this habit was changed, as she began to wear clothes made from fabrics from Egypt. Evelyn, having inherited her father's love of Egyptology, knew how to read and write ancient texts well, and understand ancient tongues. Logical and resourceful, Evelyn believed strongly that if she could touch something and see it, then it was real, which led to her brother Jonathan remarking that she was an atheist, though whether it was true she never said, although Evelyn used phrases such as "my God in Heaven" from time to time. A Feminist in her younger days, Evelyn told that she had no time for romances, despite her feelings to the contrary, and when finally wedded to Rick O'Connell, Evelyn was inseparable from him. Insistent on achieving her goals, Evelyn spared little chance to study artifacts in the field. Appearances *Canon **''The Mummy'' **''The Mummy (novelization)'' **''The Mummy Returns'' **''The Mummy Returns (novelization)'' **''The Mummy: The Animated Series'' **''The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' **''The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (novelization)'' Behind the Scenes Evelyn Carnahan née was portrayed by actress Rachel Weisz in both films, until her appearance in the television series, at which point Grey Delisle took the role as her voice actress. As of the third film, however, Weisz declared that she would no longer do the role of Evelyn O'Connell, as she had some conflicts with the script, and so the role went to Maria Bello. Before Bello accepted the role, the writers had planned to have Evelyn's character be killed off due to a bombing in London during the second World War, but with Bello accepting the role of Evelyn, the idea was discarded. Category:Characters Carnahan, Evelyn O'Connell, Evelyn O'Connell, Evelyn Category:O'Connell family Category:Authors Category:English Category:Females Category:Egyptologists Category:Curators